El Sendero de los Quetzales • Quetzal Trail Panama • Closed Again

El Sendero de los Quetzales, The Quetzal Trail in Boquete, Panama, is closed again. This is one of the most famous trails in Panama; however, not necessarily the best location to see the famous Quetzal. Because of all the guide books and on line write ups, everyone comes to Boquete wanting to hike the Quetzal trail from Cerro Punta to Boquete, or in reverse.  The trail can be difficult to cross during the rainy season because the rivers swell, and some bridges are down, or repaired incorrectly. Rumor has it that money every year has been allocated to repair the trail, but repairs are never done.

This past week our guides hiked the trail with no problem--understanding where and how to navigate the difficult areas. Tourists, however, sometime will leave the booking of their tours  to the front desk of their hotel and an inexperienced, often uninsured, tour guide will be called. That can be a scenario for disaster.

A few days ago this disaster happened. An independent guide took some guests on the Quetzal Trail and was washed away by the river that had swollen due to the Bajareque Rains (a light mist in the mountains that can accumulate a good deal of water). A very sad and avoidable situation.

The following is a google translation of this event:

ACCIDENT WAS GOING TO CROSS THAT BRIDGE IMPROVISED CALDERA PLACE ON THE RIVER

Guía turístico aparece muerto Tourist guide found dead.

José Vásquez | Chiriqui, Critica

Ulpiano Gaitan, 26, who was a tour guide, was found dead Thursday at 10: 00 am, in the waters of the Caldera, Boquete, Chiriqui.

 The body had been dragged a few feet below where the phone fell on Tuesday and was spotted by units of the National Civil Protection System (Sinaproc) in the area known as Chiquero.

"The guide search had become difficult, since the Caldera river remained murky waters and their levels were above normal," said Jose Donderis, director of Sinaproc in Chiriqui.

Gaitán Ulpiano remained missing since last Tuesday, when crossing a makeshift bridge placed on the Caldera river.  He himself was a log, where he slipped and fell into the waters of the tributary on a journey that carried out with three tourists by the Sendero Los Quetzales.

 On Wednesday they had found the coat of the deceased and one of his shoes, authorities said.

 CALIFICA A LA ANAM DE IRRESPONSABLE TO QUALIFY FOR IRRESPONSIBLE ANAM
  José Donderis, director of Sinaproc in Chiriqui, called the National Environmental Authority (ANAM) was irresponsible, to be given permits to foreign nationals and use this path, even when it was closed five years ago by the risks posed.

 He added that this young man, with the tourists, walked the path out of Cerro Punta to Boquete reach, crossing the river three times Caldera.

For its part, the mayor of Boquete, Manolo Ruiz, said that what happened to this young man is a shame because the authorities have delayed too long to enable the path and build the bridges that provide safety to visitors.

 LAMENTABLE DECESO UNFORTUNATE DEATH
  Sinaproc staff in the province of Chiriqui, the Mayor of Boquete and firefighters participated in the search for Ulpiano Gaitán, 26.

PLEASE KNOW YOUR GUIDES. EXPERIENCE AND PROFESSIONALISM IS NOT ALWAYS REALIZED BY THE LEAST EXPENSIVE TOUR COMPANY.

Fuente: http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=es&tl=en&u=http://www.critica.com.pa/archivo/12312010/sucesos.html%23axzz19h83YHwR&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&usg=ALkJrhhlX25sQXRgL451c5z8XxeHExZr9A#ixzz19hogE4lk

Comments

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[Eyespyheather]

Three of us tourists hiked the trail without a guide on the same day (Day after Christmas) from Cerro Punta to Boquete. We are very lucky this didnt happen to us. We had to cross a mudslide and the river a few times but we still made it in around 5 hours. We didnt see anyone else on the trail and the ANAM station on Cerro Punta side was closed so we didnt know the trail was closed for hiking. Even though it poured with rain it was still very beautiful.